The present invention relates to memory sharing, more particularly, to a memory sharing method for sharing SRAMs with a plurality of functional modules in a SOC device.
The evolution of system-on-chip (SOC) device greatly decreases the manufacture cost of electronic devices. However, the cost is still high for manufacturer since SOC device comprises several functional modules which comprise the corresponding memories. The total memories in an SOC device occupy substantial chip area of the SOC device. For example, internal memory blocks may occupy as much as about 70% area of an SOC device.
In related art SOC devices, a static random access memory (SRAM) is generally assigned for each functional module in each SOC device. The memory allocation depends on the features of the functional modules, such as the required memory size and data bits. Furthermore, each SRAM includes a number of memory cells where each memory cell typically stores one bit of information.
A problem that arises in the SOC device of this type is that the SRAMs distributed in different functional modules generally are not accessed simultaneously, thereby causing idle SRAMs to remain unused. Therefore, it is evident that an enhanced mechanism to reallocate the SRAMs for functional modules is needed. This will help improve the utilization of the implemented SRAMs.
Similarly, the sharing of SRAMs by the functional modules in an SOC device should be considered early on the allocation design of SRAMs. For an SOC device, modification of the access instructions and the associated controlling mechanism for the SRAMs is capable of reducing the total SRAM quantity and hence lower production costs.